Sir Robert Gresley (1866-1936), eleventh
Baronet, inherited the Gresley family seat, Drakelow Hall, Burton-on-Trent,
in 1868, at age two. He married Lady Frances Louisa Spencer-Churchill (1870-1954),
daughter of the eighth Duke of Marlborough, on 6 June 1893. They had three
sons and a daughter. In 1931 the Gresleys moved from Drakelow Hall due
to financial constraints; two years later, the contents of the home were
sold in a seven-day, 2000-lot sale. These portraits remained with the family
until they were offered for sale by Sotheby’s in 2004.